This is a beautifully written book and one of the best I've read in a long time. I was hooked from the first page. It takes you on a journey with its main character, Beatrice Trovato, from the operating room in NYC, to modern day Siena, to medieval Siena, all in search of a
…more secret that her scholarly brother was about to unmask before his untimely death. I felt like I was at her side all along the way, smelling the things she smelled, tasting the food, feeling the bitter cold and sensing the warm bath filled with rosemary and verbena. The characters in each time period that she comes across made it hard to decide which time I'd rather stay in. The villains she encounters made me so nervous at times that I was afraid for her. It was interesting to view medieval times through the eyes of a modern day woman and the things she had to do to fit in. Since it is an historical novel, you learn things about the Black Plague, artists of the time period, and the famous buildings of Siena among other things. It's a book that will make you sad when it's finished. (less)
